Finishing weight of Jersey steer?

[Bcollins]

I have 3 jersey steers that weigh around 700pds (guess) right now. Never raised Jersey's before and I'm not sure what they should finish out at. All three jerseys are a little over a year old. In your opinion what should they weigh when we butcher them? What is the best feed to finish them on? How long should I grain them before I butcher them? They seem to grow really slow so I'm wondering if it is worth feeding them for a few more months or to butcher them later this fall?

thanks Brent

 

[ChrisB]

I'm with you Brent! I was looking for some bottle calves for the kids to raise and ran across what I thought was a fair price on some 2 week old Jerseys; they are 20 months old now and have been on full corn basically since weaning. I think they are about as finished as they are going to get and need to take them to the locker soon. I knew going in they wouldn't grow as well as a beef breed or holstein, but I am still a little amazed at how they can eat so much and grow so little. I figured buying them for 1/2 the price of a holstein ment I could put a little more feed into them, guess I was wrong. If they weren't the kids' I would have cut my losses a while ago. At least there's only a couple of them and it's been good for the kids.

 

[Bcollins]

So what do you think your 20 mth old jerseys weigh?

 

[MikeC]

A neighbor [almost] finished and sold 8 Jersey steers just a few months ago.

They were converting 20 lbs. of feed to 1 lb. of gain. :roll:

He let them go at 900 lbs. but they weren't ripe for picking yet.

The ribeyes were about 6-8 sq inches, but tasty.

He sold them early to keep from going completely broke. :lol:

The folks that bought them were pleased, so I guess everything worked out.